Blockchain-based storage network Filecoin to launch mainnet in October

Decentralized storage network Filecoin expects to launch on mainnet on October 15, the Filecoin team announced in a blog post published Sunday. 

The platform, developed by Protocol Labs, is meant to enable users to buy and sell unused storage using the network's cryptocurrency, filecoin (FIL). The mainnet was originally supposed to launch in March of this year but has been delayed multiple times.

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The launch comes over three years after the platform held an initial coin offering that raised $200 million in just 30 minutes. 

According to the post, over 400 miners across 34 countries have onboarded more than 325 pebibytes (PiB) of storage capacity onto the Filecoin network. The Filecoin team says that's the equivalent of having "enough space for 90 million 1080p movies, 1,400 full copies of Wikipedia, or 7 times the entire written works of mankind (in all languages) from the beginning of recorded history to the present day."

Over the next few weeks, Filecoin will enter its "Mainnet Ignition" phase before its official "liftoff." That will give miners, clients, custodians, and the developers of more than 265 applications time to set up their systems and prepare for launch. 

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Saniya More (pronounced: Saan-ya Mo-ray) is a quadrilingual journalist at The Block. She got her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and did her undergraduate degree at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. Her work has appeared in CBS News, Bangkok Post, Thai Enquirer, Globalists, Byline Times and other publications. When she’s not chasing a story, you will most likely find her biking, tweeting, taking photos or creating Spotify playlists for every occasion.